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Well boys got out again this morning. Thanks to working 3rd shift tonight. Hit water at 730 am. Within first 5 min had 2 fish in the boat. I got the first one at 5.88lbs and buddy landed a 4.76lbr on the next cast. After that missed 3 fish. Fished for another 2.5 hrs and came to a small point that i swear i lost a DD on last weekend. Point is only 6ft of water and comes out from bank 10ft. Then drops off the end into 15ft and 10ft on both sides. We made at least 30 casts from one side reeling across the point and then straight on at the point. Then i throw to far and get stuck in some reeds. We go retrieve my 6xd. I pull my bait out turn around now from the opposite side of point. Whip crankbait out there. Feel it bumping the bottom then boom gets heavy. Lay into her. Get her to the top and like ohhhhh ya another beast. Bring her in and 8.33lbs on the digi. Guess she just wanted a different look lol. Thanks for reading!

New 110's finally arrived...

Pflueger President is hard to beat at $60.

Romans just arrived !

I love this site! What a bunch of awesome information! Why I'm a better popper fisherman than you: I throw a popper when others don't, where others don't and work it with a level of creativity that many won't. When: I believe that regardless of the fish's mood, a popper can catch them. I throw a popper when I think bass are in a negative mood because i think I can fool them into biting. I throw it when they are neutral because I think they see a popper as a meal that they can't pass up and I throw it when bass are aggressive because the strikes are so darn much fun! I throw a popper when the sun is high in the sky and in the middle of the day. These times and conditions aren't typical but I have had success during these times and in these conditions on many occasions. I also throw a popper from pre-spawn until the lakes up here freeze with success. Before you cry foul, please read on. Where: I throw a popper in your traditional ambush spots but i also throw it over deep structure, pinch points, and open water in transitional areas. When I see any type of surface activity, I have confidence that pinch points, transitional areas and even open water areas with no characteristics will produce. But here's the weird part, I have had success with a popper when there was zero surface activity in the middle of a lake where most wouldn't throw a popper. How I work it: This can get a bit zen but I truly try to become the bass when I work a popper, especially around ambush spots. I always always assume that a bass is looking at my popper and considering it from the time it hits the water (or maybe even before it hits) until the time it gets back in the boat. Some of my retrieves can take as long as 20 minutes with pauses up to 2 minutes at a time and sometimes I pop it so violently and continually that my angling partners laugh...until I catch fish doing it that way. I suppose we all feel like this when we have confidence in what we are throwing but for me, this is the number one key to popper success, confidence. My buddy throws a popper when he sees me catching fish with one but he has zero confidence in it and therefore he doesn't work it with any patience. I believe that i can entice negative fish to bite with a popper, I just have to figure out what type of retrieve and action they want. Color and brand: Doesn't matter too much. I like any popper with a white or black belly and I do use translucent plastic poppers if the water is very clear. I have tried many popper brands but prefer to make my own. I always dress the back treble with buck-tail for a bit of extra enticing. I do like to put a split shot on the lure and tie directly to that. This seems to positively affect the action especially if I feel that walking the popper is needed. Set up: I keep this pretty simple. I use a medium rod with a moderate tip. The moderate tip helps load up the rod when the fish strikes. I usually use a 6'6" rod only because I split time between my kayak and my boat and the shorter rod is a bit easier from the yak. I use mono exclusively. I did try braid for a bit but I missed the stretch of mono when it came to hooking up the fish. I prefer the Daiwa Lexa 100H (6:3:1 I believe) but most any quality reel will work. I don't feel that a fast gear ratio is necessary here and can hinder my zen like approach. One other note, it's very important to wait until you feel the weight of the fish on the strike and simply start reeling (this is where the moderate bend of the rod helps). This works better if you keep your hooks sharp! Why does popper fishing work for me? I think we tend to forget that the surface is another "edge" that fish use to ambush prey. If you think about it, it's the only edge that exists all over the lake. Yes, there are times that other techniques may work better but tell me it's not a kick in the pants to watch a bass hit a popper?

Why I'm a better jig fisherman than you. Because most people tend to fish their jig to fast and don't put it in the areas they should to catch big bass. Skip it under that dock/overhang, pitch it into the heart of a big laydown, and crawl it through that rock point that eats lures like it's going out of style. Once you get it in a prime area let it sit and move it slow. People tend to pitch their jig in, shake it quick, and pull it right back out. You get the point, fish slower. After I bought a GoPro I realized how fast I actually fished my jigs and it was a real eye opener. I've since slowed down with my retrieve. Next time your retrieving your jig count how long it takes you from cast/pitch to getting it back to the boat. Probably much faster then you expect and much faster than you should. Another good option is to anchor up, power pole/talon down, and methodically work a high percentage area. I didn't start doing this until 3 years ago and the amount of big fish I caught after doing so went up dramatically. Most people do not work an area thoroughly enough by a long shot. Getting that proper boat position, maintaining it, and working the area slowly is key to those bigger bites. I also make my own jigs so I have colors specific to the bodies of water I fish. If you don't think color matters that's fine (not here to argue) but I can tell you on the lakes I fish you will get out fished if you don't have specific colors at certain times of the year. I can also dial in the ROF I get with my jig based on head weight and strand count which is another important factor. There are plenty of guys on here that would whip my arse when it comes to jig fishing but over the past 7 years of focusing on jig fishing I have made a lot of improvements that I wish someone had told me years ago.

Maybe look an a St. Croix Avid X. Just a thought.

@bigbill would know the truth

The new Shimano Sedona FE is a bargin at $70, a little above your budget. Tom

Don't even talk to me about cold. Tucker & I just chilling after our run yesterday. I think it was 8 degrees without the wind chill - kind of nice actually. A-Jay

Im ordering this soon! Its not much, but i will still love it!

i caught a little shakespeare ultralight from under someone's dock last year. fully rigged up with float and split shots and all.... after i got it in the kayak, i paddled over and gently placed it on the dock it came out of... i assume some homeowner got a laugh about the rod they lost that came back!

The photoshop is strong with this one.

Who uses celsius? What are you a commie?

Last year I fished with a friend on Lake Pickwick. We alternated boats. One day we fished out of his new Ranger and the next out of my piece of crap, garbage. The fish did not seem to care which boat we were in. I cannot imagine why such vitriol about an inanimate object.

GOOD NEWS! ..........Last evening our hunting and fishing club approved the prototype bucket structures to be placed in the largest pond. A small amount of money was allotted for the purchase of PVC materials and other various supplies to be used in the vertical habitats. One member even donated the winnings from our monthly 50/50 raffle to help fund the project. I hope to have over two dozen various structures to install when the ice thaws. After a year of effort, more members are coming aboard to support this project. It's rewarding to finally see some progress after lots of initial resistance.

\ Two Wright & McGill cranking rods for $4.71 each 75% off clearance. They retail at $90. Thank you DSG

Some research has come out since these observations were made and the conclusions have been that ingestion happens in the wild but has so far been shown to be rare -not enough to warrant population wide concern. Also, most ingested SPL's are excreted. Those most apt to become impacted were SP's that swelled greatly when in the water for some time. It is suggested that anglers take care not to lose SPL's or discard them in the water. Some tournaments apparently provide bins to collect spent SPL's. Most anglers I know are pretty stingy with their lures and spend time mending them. As to toxicity, I dunno about ElaZtech. It's labeled "non-toxic" by the manufacturer mainly bc it does not contain pthalates -the chemical softener used with PVC to make SPL's. Some of these pthalates are more toxic than others but research so far is mixed about real environmental impacts. There are enough yellow flags though that I'm at least staying aware of the research and am being more careful with my use of SPL's. It's one of the reasons I'm interested in alternatives such as ElaZtech.

I'm taking off at noon to get out.

Been fishing through my grandfather's and father's tackle boxes and now am the proud owner of a few spoonplugs. Not sure of their design depths, but I suppose I'll give them a troll this year.

Shad and tilapia. There are schools of millions of shad and tilapia in the summer everywhere. Tilapia about 6inches long in huuuuuge schools on the surface. Right now i see the occassional one dieing on surface.

Frog Freak, I'm going to challenge you (playfully of course). I feel like I'm also a decent topwater popper fisherman, While I still have a lot to learn, I have learned from my mistakes and that has lead to me developing successful techniques that I have confidence in when Topwater Popper Fishing. LOOP KNOT: I've learned how to accurately tie a loop knot which is the best knot for me in throwing poppers. The loop knot gives the bait free motion when popping the bait which helps with the action of the bait. MONO LINE: I found mono to the be best line for me due to stretch on the hook sets(prevents me from ripping it out of their mouths) and toughness when bass take the popper around logs and stumps. I tend to use lighter line than the pros. 6lb and 8lb mono line. It helps reduce the visibility to the fish and allows me to cast it a country mile. ROD: I like a parabolic, medium action rod that is not stiff. The softer tip allows me to walk the bait when necessary, but also just enough give to mesh with how I work the bait. A medium rod also aids me in my hook sets and does not allow me to set too hard of a hook set. WORKING THE BAIT: To me, a popper is the definition of a finesse bait. I found that fast subtle rod twitches get the bait to dart and twitch a way that mimics a wounded bait fish. Also, the quick subtle twitches when worked at the right cadence, have the "swish, swish" sound the rattle chambers makes that emulates an erratic wounded bait fish. CASTING ACCURACY: The structure in the lake I fish challenge me to have pin point casts by trees. I found out I have a 4-6 inch target and if I miss that target, I don't get bit. Hitting the center of a pocket, hitting a few inches away from a structure, and following the shore with a cast are all casts I use when topwater popper fishing. LURE SIZE: I also found that the larger size poppers get bit as much as the smaller ones, and the larger ones are easier to throw, so I use the larger ones predominately. LURE COLOR: Find out what bait you are emulating and find the color that best represents the forage. Also, use trial and error to see what works best. Then get a few confidence colors. HOOKS: I learned the hard way about the importance of quality hooks. There's a huge difference between Owner/Gamakatsu hooks vs stock hooks on Rebel Pop R's. Even Bass that swipe at a good quality sharp hook will get hooked most of the time. When you use weak, dull hooks, you can lose a lot of fish and it can take your confidence away. HOOK SETS: To me the key in hooking a topwater popper bass is to wait 1.5-2 seconds before setting the hook. I have a very quick reaction to the strike and I had to train myself to wait before setting the hook. The time you wait to set the hook allows the bass to fully mouth the bait and to head in a direction to allow a good hook set. Also, a very hard hook set has not proven to have good success. I set a quick hook set, but it's not really hard. It's not a jig hook set, it's milder in power, but still quick. TOPWATER TECHNIQUES: I found a twitch twitch popper technique is my go-to technique, but sometimes dead-sticking, walking the dog or a single twitch is what works. PATIENCE: My topwater techniques do not cover water quickly. They identify a target location and then effectively fish that particular location thoroughly. Patience has served me well. Don't overwork the bait by jerking it around and by hard pops. I found that does not work best. Finesse actions and fewer twitches have netted me most of my fish. Also, when the bait first hits the water, wait 5, 6, 7 seconds to let the ripples disperse. This creates a target ring for bass to locate the bait. A lot of times you throw the bait close to the bass, but bass can come from further distances, when you give them time to locate the lure from the ripples. Topwater Popper fishing is my favorite and the sight of your lure being sucked under is second to none. Also, the bass that go airborne is a great sight to see. I'll take one topwater fish to 3 fish caught any other way. And when you get a big fish on a topwater, it can make your year! -Mike

I've never even owned a spoonplug but know how effective they can be . I watched a couple of guys pull some nice bass and a big flathead off a point trolling these weird looking spoons .

Looks like he did, Hootie.

Prime example on why it's important to fish high percentage areas from different angles, great fish!

Caught this striper a few summers ago on my kayak. I was trolling a 6XD, thought I was hung on a rock at first, and then for most of the fight I was pretty certain it was a big cat, but this was a pleasant surprise!

I just signed up for MTB last month and my box came in Yesterday. In the box is a green and brown Mop Jig. Also, with two different bags with Craw Trailers that can be used with the jig as well as Texas rig. I will spend a good part of the day fishing a jig and fired up about this. I'm already game planning places with rip rap and laydowns. I'll report back. I want to thank everyone for their comments.

I love my daiwa certate 2000. Waited a long time but I found a new one for 195 shipped. The advantage Sol and fuego are all tops in my book

You can get much nicer gear on the used market. You can find a daiwa Sol for about a hundred or less and pair it with a used avid 7' medium. This is what I use and its a great pair.

This is why I am a better frog fisherman than you. I throw it a lot. I mean a whole bunch, probably more than I should. I love that it can go from open water to the bank, and catch fish the whole way. But, why I am better has to do with where you put it. I catch more fish fishing behind guys cause I put it right on the bank. It is amazing how shallow bass will be in thick slop. Also stick it where the sun doesn't shine, Literally! Shade, and shade lines, up into bushes, over limbs, as deep as you can get it. There is a reason for that 65# braid! If YOU want to be a better frog fisherman than ME, than my advice is to practice casting...... Jim

Funny, I had one of those $15 Shimanos and it was the worst reel I'd ever used. And I was used to $10-$30 gear back then too. Really put me off of Shimano as a whole. I would second (or third or fourth) the President recommendation. Super reel for the money, and it's been that way for years.

i've had bad reel seats on their Legend Tournaments. It happens. Just send it to them to fix.

Also FYI ~ Mend-it Glue does Not work with Z-Man Elaztech ~ It just sort of sits there and looks at you. A-Jay

some kayak bigs:

Jig target. Jig fish. Hootie

US Customs can delay the process no matter how much $ you pay to expedite....

can't go wrong with this route.... or if you find a good deal on a supreme, scoop one of those up.

red label is a pretty solid line for the money. i steer away from fluoro that begins with a "V" (vicious, vanish)

Just got these awesome jigs in the mail! They're notoriously productive in my neck of the woods and designed specifically for swimming grubs and worms. I'll be throwing some 4" kalins lunker grubs on these allllllll year.

Siebert Outdoors Grid Iron http://www.siebertoutdoors.com/Grid-Iron-Football-Jig-471.htm

Yo-Zuri Hybrid #6 has a breaking strength of 11.9 lbs and is inexpensive and very manageable on spinning tackle. 3/8 oz Siebert Outdoors Grid Iron is the jig I would recommend with a Rage Tail Craw trailer. Colors should include your favorite plus black/ blue, green pumpkin and PBJ.

God, I'll be glad when winter is over. This group gets weird in winter!

New additions: Two Chronarch 100D7! Best Shimano reel ever made IMO!

Maybe I should get my license now. Hah. Having a wierd winter. That first freeze we had I put my rods away also being real busy with work and holidays. Made the wrong move I guess. Maybe I'll get my gear out again...

There's a dock with the same thing set up in a popular creek off the Potomac....It got me once this summer, I actually appreciated it since it was about 95 degrees that day.... Caught a fish off the dock too .

Ever fish a jig vertically? It's like that, but with less movement. Pay attention, bites can be really light. Take a spin through our articles and videos - there literally TONS of stuff on drop shotting there.

I like big butts and I cannot lie

I might be wrong.. but fluoro stretches almost as much as monos. The sensitivity you're feeling isn't from lack of stretch but because the line is denser and sinks it's more of a direct line of contact. Transmits vibration better.

Years ago, an old neighbor once caught a rod and reel combo that appeared to have been recently dropped over the edge. Upon closer inspection he found the the newly 'snagged' outfit to be nicer than the one he was using. He thought about releasing his but decided to keep both.

I once pulled in a spincaster while bank fishing that had a bullhead hooked on it... I figure the fish pulled the rod off a stick stand or something while the other guy wasn't paying attention. Pulled the rod in and realized it was twitching too and ended up having to reel in twice to get the fish.